The invention relates to a connecting pipe linking a thermal device of a motor vehicle to a firewall of the vehicle.
In a motor vehicle the air supplied to the passenger compartment is able to be heated or cooled by a thermal device according to requirements. This thermal device is located in the passenger compartment below the dashboard, against a sheet metal part generally called the firewall (apron) which separates the passenger compartment from the engine compartment of the front end of the vehicle. The thermal device comprises an air inlet connected to a water box located below the windshield of the vehicle, on the other side of the apron relative to the thermal device. An opening made through the firewall (apron) permits the circulation of air (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1) from the water box to the thermal device of the vehicle.
For different vehicle models it is advantageous to retain the same position of the thermal device relative to the apron, which permits the same parts to be used and thus the costs to be reduced. However, due to the different types of architecture of the vehicles, in particular between models with left-hand or right-hand drive, it is not always possible to retain the same position of the thermal device relative to the apron. In this case, it may be necessary to modify the apron, which may prove complex, or to provide a specific thermal device for each vehicle model, which increases the different types of parts and the manufacturing costs.
Thus there is a need for a solution permitting the same thermal device and the same apron to be retained for different vehicle models, whatever the relative positions of the thermal device and the apron.